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July 29, 2002—In this issue:

1. COMMENTARY

2. FAQS

Q. What's a Windows XP Language Interface Pack?

Q. How can I prevent Windows Media Player (WMP) from processing HTML scripts contained within media files?

Q. Why can't I use Runas under Windows XP on a program located on a mapped drive?

Q. How can I always win at Minesweeper?

Q. What features do the 64-bit versions of the Windows family provide, and will I be able to run my 32-bit applications on a 64-bit platform?

Q. What's the Wow6432Node under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE registry subkey?

This week, I examine how to stop Windows Media Player (WMP) from acting on HTML scripts, how to use Windows XP's Runas command to execute programs located on mapped drives, and how to always win at Minesweeper. I also explain the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions, describe the Wow6432Node registry setting, and explain how to dump event logs from the command line.

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2. FAQS(contributed by Paul Thurrott, thurrott@winnetmag.com)

Q. What's a Windows XP Language Interface Pack?

A. In a previous FAQ, I discussed the Windows 2000 MultiLanguage Version, which lets multiple users use many languages simultaneously on one machine. A Language Interface Pack uses the same technology but adds only one language at a time to XP Professional Edition. A Language Interface Pack lets the user localize an English-version installation of the OS with language-specific menus, dialog boxes, and other GUI elements. Language Interface Packs are available for:

Bulgarian

Romanian

Croatian

Slovak

Estonian

Slovenian

Latvian

Lithuanian

Thai

Q. How can I prevent Windows Media Player (WMP) from processing HTML scripts contained within media files?

Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Preferences subkey.

From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.

Enter a name of PlayerScriptCommandsEnabled, then press Enter.

Double-click the new value, set it to 0 to prevent WMP from processing HTML scripts in media files, then click OK.

Close the registry editor.

Restart WMP.

Q. Why can't I use Runas under Windows XP on a program located on a mapped drive?

A. XP's implementation of the Runas command lets you execute a program under the context of another user. However, if you attempt to use Runas on a program located on a mapped drive, XP enforces mapped-drive credentials and displays one of the following error messages:

RUNAS ERROR: Unable to run - <drive>:\<path>\<filename>.exe 3: The system cannot find the path specified. The application failed to initialize properly (0xc0000022). Click on OK to terminate the application.

These errors result because mapped-drive connections use the security context of the currently logged-on user, and Runas can't use this security context because Runas is attempting to run programs under another user's security context. To resolve this problem, you need to use a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) name instead of a mapped drive. For example, instead of using

runas /user:<domain>\<user name> h:\progs\delold.exe

use

runas /user:<domain>\<user name> \\server1\share1\progs\delold.exe

Unlike XP, Windows 2000's Runas implementation doesn't enforce the mapped-drive credentials, so a Win2K user can access a mapped drive by using another user's security context.

Q. How can I always win at Minesweeper?

A. You can configure Minesweeper to display either a white or black pixel on screen, depending on if the cursor is over a mine (black) or not (white) by following these steps:

Start Minesweeper.

Type

xyzzy

then press Shift+Enter.

Minimize all windows and begin play.

The pixel in the top left-hand corner of the desktop will be black if the cursor is over a mine square or white if the cursor is over a safe square. This trick works on all versions of Minesweeper supplied with Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 3.1.

Q. What features do the 64-bit versions of the Windows family provide, and will I be able to run my 32-bit applications on a 64-bit platform?

The 64-bit versions of Windows include some file-system structure and registry differences, but the GUI looks and acts the same. The differences between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions are internal, as the following table shows:

The 64-bit versions of Windows run 32-bit applications in the same way that 32-bit Windows run 16-bit applications: by using an emulation layer. (However, 16-bit applications can't run on 64-bit versions of Windows.) Because of this emulation, a 32-bit application will run slowly on a 64-bit box, so you shouldn't attempt to run important 32-bit services on a 64-bit version of Windows.

A 64-bit application can't load a 32-bit DLL and vice-versa because of user memory space limitations and because 64-bit applications can access 8TB of memorywhereas 32-bit applications can access only 2GB. As a result, neither the 32-bit nor 64-bit Windows versions can accurately pass memory pointers to the other version.

Q. What's the Wow6432Node under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE registry subkey?

A. The Wow6432 registry entry indicates that you're running a 64-bit version of Windows. The OS uses this key to present a separate view of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE for 32-bit applications that run on a 64-bit version of Windows. When a 32-bit application queries a value under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\<company>\<product> subkey, the application reads from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\<company>\<product> subkey. Figure 1 ( http://www.windows2000faq.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=25995 ) shows the structure under Wow6432Node that 32-bit applications will see. A "registry reflector" copies certain values between the 32-bit and 64-bit registry views (e.g., mainly for COM registration) and resolves any conflicts by using a last-writer-wins approach.

Q. How can I dump all event logs from the command line?

A. The Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit includes the elogdmp.exe utility, which lets you display the contents of a particular type of log file. Valid event-log types are

Application

Directory Service (if the system is a domain controller—DC)

DNS Server (if the system is a DNS server)

File Replication Service (FRS—if the system is a server)

Security

System

To use the Elogdmp command, go to the command prompt and type

elogdmp \\<machine> <log type>

To dump the event-log files for the local machine, type

elogdmp \\. <log type>

The Elogdmp output is comma-delimited (you can output the information to a file by adding "> filename.txt" without the quotes to the end of the command), so applications such as Microsoft Excel can easily read the information. The following text shows an example of Elogdmp output:

Windows XP users can use eventquery.vbs, which ships with the OS, to dump event logs from the command line.

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